If You Love ‘Friends,’ Watch This Brilliant TV Comedy Series

The Big Picture

• Coupling
  explores darker aspects of human nature through flawed, relatable characters.
• The show offers a less romanticized view of relationships, showcasing their messy and complicated nature.
• Coupling
  blends hilarity with thought-provoking realism, making it a compelling watch for fans of
  Friends
  .

While David Crane and Marta Kauffman’s Friends has officially been off the air for two decades, it’s hard not to miss the camaraderie, meaningful connections, and punchlines. Considered one of the most rewatchable shows out there, the 1990s sitcom centered on a group of six friends living in the heart of the Big Apple. Needless to say, no one told us that we would miss Friends this hard; you can chock it up to nostalgia or its massive cultural impact, but the show left a crater-sized hole in viewers’ hearts. But here’s the good news: lots of shows have borrowed vital elements from Friends over the years, from How I Met Your Mother to Happy Endings, as tales of tight-knit friend groups have dominated the small screen.

Then there’s Coupling, a gripping ensemble comedy from across the pond that similarly delves into the lives of a six-friend crew. Set in London, the storyline has each character navigating their love lives and tons of misadventures along the way. Taking center stage are Steve (Jack Davenport) and Susan (Sarah Alexaander), whose “will they, won’t they” dynamic is as delightful to watch as it is frustrating; the two are actually based on the show’s creator and producer, Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue. There’s also Jeff (Richard Coyle) who’s goofy but lovable, Patrick (Ben Myles) the not-so-slick lady’s man who’s also Susan’s ex, Jane (Gina Bellman), the free-spirit (and Steve’s ex), and Sally (Kate Isitt), a sharp-tongued lawyer with a complicated love life. Beyond being another ensemble sitcom, the show was unapologetically witty and raunchy in every line delivery. Topped with the dry humor typical on British comedy shows, Coupling is Friends’ zany cousin that’s engaging in its own right.

How ‘Coupling’ Delves Deep Into the Darker Aspects of Human Nature

Typically, British comedies inspire laughs but don’t rely heavily on the more “haha” type of humor. On that front, Coupling is a typical British comedy, though it’s the characters who really set it apart. Moffat formulated characters so tangible and multidimensional that viewers could relate to each passing misadventure. We’re not talking “a little rough around the edges” here, but full-blown humanity on display is explored through the lens of each character’s flaws.

Let’s take Coyle’s Jeff, whose absence in Season 4 was everyone’s favorite reason to dislike it. His neuroses and crippling fear of embarrassment often led him down a road of unnecessary lies; naturally, his irrational fear often landed him in situations that can only be classified as “cringe.” In the Season 2 opener, he falls in love with a woman he sees on the train every morning—specifically her leg. Once Jeff has the chance to speak to her, though, his nerves get the best of him, reducing him to a bumbling mess who blurts out that he only has one leg. Rather than retreating and regrouping, Jeff forges ahead with the lie and even ends up visiting a disability support group with his mystery “leg woman,” Chrissie (Alison King). He keeps falling into an abyss of his own lies and eventually misses out on a ménage à trois with Chrissie and her flatmate.

Then there’s Patrick, who’s the polar opposite of Jeff: confident, self-assured, and downright disgusting when it comes to his view of women. When you equally consider things like Steve’s illogical fear of commitment, Susan’s subtle manipulation, Jane’s obsession with all things “Jane,” and Sally’s odd combination of low self-esteem and vanity among a myriad of imperfections, it’s clear that the show is quite realistic in its exploration of human nature. However, the cherry on the top is that it’s not just a story about a group of friends behaving badly; they face their worst selves and evolve over the course of the show, dishing up some grade-A comedy along the way.

‘Coupling’ Offers a Less-Romanticized Outlook on Relationships

One of the most glaring facts of life is that romantic relationships are often not as flowery as they’re depicted in the movies: instead, they’re complicated, messy, and a ton of hard work. Coupling takes extra care not to shy away from that fact while also leaning into how hilarious it is when an admittedly mismatched group of friends keeps getting into entanglements. Let’s start with the fact that Jane and Steve were initially an item; he decides to ask Susan out on a date while it’s clear that they’re definitively not “on a break.” It’s equally glaring that he’s been searching for (and failing woefully) at this for a while, as Jeff even dubbed Jane “unflushable” on account of that.

Then there’s the whole Susan and Patrick situation, as the pair used to date, though Patrick happily ends up as Steve’s friend. Their web of unlikely ‘couplings’ also includes Sally and Patrick, who decide to date even though Sally is friends with Susan. While there probably aren’t many friend groups out there with what we can only describe as a “communal sex life”, their messiness takes a huge slice of razzle-dazzle out of the search for “the one”.

Looking beyond their complicated past, the group’s present relationships on the show also dig into elements that were considered risqué for sitcoms in the early 2000s. Incorporating elements ranging from pornography to BDSM, Coupling wasn’t afraid to pan away from the picturesque idea of what really goes down in relationships. It wasn’t much a show about candlelit dinners or electric meet-cutes, but it did shine a light on the awkward and hilariously absurd things that people encounter when seeking any kind of companionship. Is it everyone’s cup of tea? The realistic answer is probably not, but anyone searching for something reminiscent of Friends that’s as thought-provoking as it is hilarious is bound to enjoy Coupling.

Coupling is available to watch on Amazon Prime in the U.S.

Watch on Amazon Prime